Should I join LinkedIn?

I have found it to be completely useless.

@syz and why was that? I haven’t worked in 10 years and wouldn’t know what to put on there.

If you haven’t worked – and haven’t been using LinkedIn for some time, I’m not sure how useful it will be for you. The strength of LinkedIn seems to be that it’s where you accumulate your professional contacts over time and have a place to present your “professional” self.

I’m not sure what field you are in, but here in the software development world, I do get contacted by the occasional recruiter who is looking to fill a position. You can ignore these people if you want. But I do get contacted by former co-workers who let me know that there is a development job available at their company.

If you haven’t worked and don’t have a ton of contacts, it might take some time to build up your network. It might be worthwhile starting it now, but it might not immediately pay off on the current job search. It could pay off once you’re in the workplace and building up your network.

First of all, you don’t get a bunch of email from Linked In. I would try to reconnect with the people you worked with 10 years ago and let them know that you are job hunting.

I will never join LinkedIn just because they spam the fuck out of my email telling me to join every single fucking day. >_<

@marinelife ten years ago I was a successful health professional and now I’m not. I don’t know any of those people anymore and wouldn’t want to contact them. I was just wondering if it would be useful for the average bear and I guess it’s sort of not. Thanks all. I have the same problem @uberbatman has.

^^ Keep in mind, however, that now that you’re re-entering the workforce, maintaining your network is almost as important as maintaining your job-related skills. If you choose not to use LinkedIn, you’ll probably have to create/use an alternate method. And since you won’t be using LinkedIn, you’ll likely have to explain to people why this is – it’s expected and considered to be fringe behavior in many industries to avoid it.

As for the spam – get gmail. There’s no such thing as spam there. Flag it once and you’re done. I haven’t received spam since 2005. Yes, 2005.

I have gmail, somehow my spam filter blows… Yes I do flag stuff all the bloody time.

I recently opened a new account on there, and the e-mail account I used started getting filled with spam every day.

I agree with Uberatman as I had a Linkedin account and just unsubscribed after all the spam and emails in my email account!
They send which I think are fake requests etc
I am glad that I was able to unsubscribe successfully as others are not so lucky.

I accepted a LinkedIn invitation years ago when the site was very new and it was only a professional networking site. I took the concept seriously: if I connect to you, it means that I’m willing to vouch for you professionally. If I’ve never seen your work, or don’t think highly enough of it to be in effect a reference on your resume, I don’t connect on LinkedIn.

After a few years I started getting connect requests from fellow employees and former cowrkers with whom I’d never actually worked directly. Then I started getting them from social acquaintances with no professional common ground at all. Then it was strangers, friends of friends. And finally it was outright spammers.

By that point its whole purpose was diluted or perverted. I suppose it’s still a useful tool for some purposes, such as creating small virtual communities around work-related themes, but as far as I’m concerned it’s lost the value it once had.

All it means to me now is that I see occasional news from former colleagues without having to go to something like Facebook.

@Inspired_2write I get a ton of spam from LinkedIn from some “friend” of mine that doesn’t exist inviting me. Same name multiple times a day. I hit unsubscribe and it stops…..for a couple weeks until the next name starts.

There are certain portals that are used quite a lot by recruitment agencies. For example some agencies use Gum Tree. Here people would put up their CV and at times when searching for potential candidates the agency will search. There are others, I can’t recall now but each country has their own resources they tap into. That would be more useful perhaps?

I think Linkedln is more useful when building a larger footprint on the net.

Don’t know if this is important but I’m not in the US? Is it as important in other countries?

@uberbatman
Then try and block Linedin on your email in folder.